Night Photography - How to capture light when there isn't much of itNight photography is appealing to anyone who's marveled at a starry sky, brightly lit skyline, or the streak of vehicle lights on a busy highway. While some photographers think that their day is over when the sun goes down, others know that great opportunities are just presenting themselves. There are only a few things to do differently when you're planning on shooting at night. The first is a tripod. While optional during the day, it's a necessity at night. Next are your camera's settings. The night mode on my camera doesn't produce good results, so I favor going with manual or aperture-priority instead. If your goal is to get long streaks from moving cars, go for a long shutter speed (15-25 seconds). If you want to keep the stars sharp, choose a faster shutter speed. Avoid the temptation to increase your ISO. While that seems counter-intuitive, you'll find that high ISO's produce a lot of digital "noise" in your shot. Then there's focus. Your camera's automatic focus is unlikely to work at night, or if it does, it'll focus on something very close to the camera. When photographing at night, switch to manual focus. If you set up before dark, you can focus through the lens, but otherwise you'll have to set it to the hyperfocal distance (insert link for hyperfocal discussion) manually. The last thing to consider is the shutter release. Pressing the shutter, even when your camera is on a tripod, will cause some movement. If you don't have a remote shutter release, use your camera's self-timer.
 After you've played around with the techniques described above, consider using a flashlight or handheld strobe flash to light up select areas of your image. This is sometimes called light painting, and produces fantastic effects (insert example here). Return to Tips and Techniques from Night Photography Return to home page from Night Photography
|